Monday through Friday I spend my afternoons at an international school. I begin by tutoring a 5th grader with his English by helping him with reading and spelling. Next, I teach 6th grade penmanship/typing. It still makes me laugh a little when I reflect back of myself learning penmanship and typing. I still hold to the fact that cursive writing is pointless, and when one 6th grader asked me if he'd ever use penmanship later in life, I said "nope, but your grade depends on it, so keep writing". ... I know, I have a wonderful way with children. :) ...
I end the day with 1st graders. I teach an ESL class with 7 1st graders. After that, I hang around and help out in the classroom with a variety of activities. I absolutely love teaching ESL especially with these 1st graders. Although I am in Bulgaria, none of my students are Bulgarian. There is a Turkish girl who is always ready to please. There are 3 Israeli kids- 2 girls and one boy. One of the girls is quiet and is not confident in speaking although she usually knows the words. The other girl is getting more comfortable with me which means she's paying less attention when she's supposed to be listening. The boy was the only boy until today. He's smart and super cute. There is also one girl from the Czech Republic who is always smiling and is currently missing her two front teeth which makes her even cuter. And there is one Russian girl who reminds me of a princess with the care she takes to do all things. Today, I got my 7th student. He's a boy from Serbia. He talks a lot but not in English. They are all incredibly cute but sometimes a handful.
When I'm teaching ESL, the words are so basic and small. None of these kids spoke much, if any, English at the beginning of the school year. So, we are going over numbers, colors, how to ask your name and age, and animals. They struggle with some things, but they catch on quickly with other things.
That is life with me as the teacher. After school on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays, I become the student. I am basically learning the same thing I teach but in Bulgarian. I am also learning more verbs. I feel accomplished when I can say "my name is" or "I can read and write in Bulgarian." Then, I think harder about what I'm feeling accomplished about, and I feel like a kindergartner... or 1st grader. It makes me wonder how my first graders feel after a 45 minute class because when I leave after 1 1/2 hours I feel like my head is going to explode. If it doesn't, then that means it went right over my head. I have been using one phrase a lot lately though... whenever people start talking to me or asking me a question (usually when I'm on the bus), I just say "I speak little Bulgarian." Of course, I say it in Bulgarian. They then smile or laugh and ask someone else. The phrase looks like this ... Говора Български Малко and sounds like govora bulgarske malko. It's an interesting place to be. I'm not sure if it's ironic, but I find myself on very different places throughout the day. I am learning a lot more than just words.
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